Ex-speedway champ's condition improves

The condition of Mildura's former world champion speedway rider Leigh Adams is improving in an Adelaide hospital, after a crash in the Northern Territory.

Adams crashed near Alice Springs in unofficial practice before the Finke Desert Race on Tuesday, and sustained severe spinal injuries.

Rod Colquhoun is a family friend and says Adams is now conscious but in a serious condition after surgery yesterday.

"They spent most of the day operating on his back, trying to realign the vertebrae and putting metal rods in there to try and keep him basically in a straight line, is the best way to put it I suppose," he said.

"The doctors had told Leigh's wife Kylie that they were preparing more for rehabilitation than recovery, so from that she gleaned that it's unlikely he'll ... walk again."